User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
5 stars 
Sometimes in life we need to be pushed to be reminded that we can still move.
Brittainy C. Cherry give us another stunning and emotional second chance romance with her newest release,
Southern Storms.
After dealing with loss, Kennedy lives her home in the city to move to the country near her sister. She needs the quiet and solitude to heal. What she never expects is for the town jerk to live right by her. And for it to be someone she once knew... Kennedy knew Jax when they were young and went to summer camp together. It's been a lot of years since they've seen each other, and they're both completely different people now.
Usually when we get a grumpy hero (I love the grumpy ones) we have a light and bubbly heroine to balance them out. That wasn't the case here, at least not completely. Kennedy used to be light, but when she went through such a traumatic loss, she lost some of that light. My favorite thing about this story was seeing both of these characters broken from their past come together and start to heal. It was such a beautiful moment.
This book alternates from chapters that take place in the past and those in the present. I loved seeing Jax and Kennedy as kids. Jax has the most beautiful and sensitive soul. I hate that his father tried to squash it, but loved that Kennedy was able to bring that side out of him. He was also able to bring out a new side to her. Kennedy had been in the darkness so long after her loss, but he got her back into the light.
"Tell me your truths, and I'll stay," he swore. "Whatever they are, Kennedy, I'm not afraid. I'm here."
I loved Jax and Kennedy so much, but there were also some amazing side characters that stole the show at times. Connor was my absolute favorite. This story was really heavy at times, but he had a way of bringing heart and humor to every scene he was in and had me laughing and smiling so big. I also loved Joy and Kennedy's sister.
Southern Storms is not a light and fluffy romance. It's emotional, deals with loss, grief, and healing, and will make your heart happy and full when you finish it. It's a gorgeous childhood friends to lovers story that I highly recommend!
Shew as the sun. She was my sun. I fell in love with the sun, and she kept my cold heart warm.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 Stars! ... A tale of the moon, the sun, and the stars.Just to let y'all know, Kennedy called Jax as "moon," Jax called Kennedy as "sun," and they called their loved ones who already passed away as "stars."
Note: This is a friends to lovers romance. If y'all ask me to pick five books by different authors, I would definitely grab Brittainy Cherry's. Her previous works ticked all the boxes I love about romance, and she'd written one of my all-time favourite books. She's just one of it! And even if
Southern Storms a miss; still, I look forward to her other books.
“The best thing in life that we can ever do is be brave enough to love."
Southern Storms is the first book in the
Compass series, and can be read as a standalone.
Jax and Kennedy both went through a loss that shattered their lives forever. They're both blaming themselves, and were currently in the process of healing. When they met again—yes, again, you heard that right—they both eventually realized that the love they had for each other ever since, was the long-lost healing piece of their broken hearts.
"...When I think about love, I think about you.”
I don't think I fully connected with the main characters. I really tried, but it was just hard. I wasn't that much immersed in the story because it focused more on the personal development of Jax and Kennedy. I couldn't relate with them because of the fact that I've never been traumatized. Yes. I admit. My life is pretty boring. That's why I expected something that would pain me, something that is emotionally exhausting. Because guys, it's Brittainy Cherry, what would I expect?
Most of the supporting characters were loveable. The nosy neighbours are included in the group because you know, without them, Kennedy's life in Havenbarrow wouldn't be interesting. Along with it, Yoana's unconditional love with her sister got me in the heart. Joy's belief, “I go where the love is," deeply moved me. I laughed out loud with Connor's humour. And Eddie's support and guidance, and the story behind "anal beads" was inspirational. Don't ask. Anyway, these characters saved the story for me somehow.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. Sadly, nothing is new that made me love it. Same ole, same ole Brittainy Cherry style. However, on the bright side, I think I would love this one if it's my first book by this author. Can't wait for Connor's story though!
I recommend it to those who likes: Brittainy C. Cherry, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, slow burn, emotional read, and a happily ever after.
“If you need to run away, run away to me.”
Rating: really liked it
💙✨SOUTHERN STORMS IS LIVE ✨💙
Even the town’s black sheep needed a friend sometimes...
Southern Storms, an all-new angst-filled friends to lovers romance, is live early! I’m sooo excited for y’all to meet Jax and Kennedy! 😍 Available now in Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bJYlYJ
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/SouthernStorms
✨Friends to lovers 💙
✨Small town romance 💙
✨Broken hero 💙
✨Swooooons 💙
I am in LOVE with this book and I hope you love it, too! 🥰🥰
Rating: really liked it
3 stars ✧i just want to move out of the city and live in a small town so i could meet a Damon Salvatore/Hook look-a-like and meet all these quirky people. that's the dream.
i really thought i was going to ugly cry here like how i cried when i read landon & shay and i was so prepared for it too but nahh. i shed a tear once in a while but this was actually such a
sweet and super cute romance that i was aww'ing all the damn time.
i love
small-town romances cuz i know there will be plenty of great side characters and this had one of the best i've read. my boy Connor? that dude DESERVES THE WORLD. i love him. i mean, he used Frozen reference to play matchmaker between Kennedy (h) and Jax (H) and he reminds me of Kirk from Gilmore Girls so he's an automatic favorite of mine. he really needs his own book ASAP.
and another memorable side character is
"Crazy Joy" whom i absolutely love and would want to be best friends with even though she's an 80-year-old woman.
this has the
childhood best friends to lovers trope where the MCs separate when they were kids (13 yrs old), haven't seen each other for years and is suddenly reunited because of coincidence/destiny.
some might be a little turned off by the fact that
Kennedy had a husband in the first chapter but they divorced real quick since the husband was a selfish, manipulative asshole who kicked her out of their home because she was too "emotional" or traumatized" from her daughter and parents' deaths. so there is a little bit of
ex drama on both sides but nothing too major.
the bromance between Jax and Connor was the best thing here i mean come on, just look at their banter
"I don't mean to take away your man card, Jax, but adding kale to your protein shakes makes you look a lot like those chicks who wear Ugg boots and are addicted to Starbucks and Target."
"Are you calling me a basic bitch?"
"Are you going to tell me to watch my language if I call you a basic bitch?"
"Yes."
"Well then stop being a basic bitch and eating kale. Next thing I know, you'll be Instagramming avocado toast while drinking kombucha."
"What's kombucha?"
"Oh, thank God. You still have your balls."
i feel personally attacked here cuz i too am guilty of being a basic bitch.
the romance here was cute and emotional and had the signature "destiny" trope that ms. Cherry does but it was just ok for me since they
got together pretty fast and there was a lot of telling than showing. the beginning was slow but once they start hanging out, their relationship development was too fast for my liking. and that fake disney sing-along sex dream that Jax had was hotter than the real sex scene. but to be honest, i liked these couple's moments more when they were 11/12 cuz those chapters were so freaking adorable. i don't know, everything just felt so easy even though there were hard subjects here but i can appreciate on how this book talks about
trauma and grief.anyways, this had Gilmore Girls vibes where Jax is Luke with a splash of Captain America (because of that language joke he does with Connor and he's grumpy) and Kennedy is Lorelai with a splash of Joe from You.
Rating: really liked it
SOUTHERN STORMS:' Is the first full length romance novel in Author Brittainy C. Cherry's 'Compass' series. Each book can be read as standalones. Spoken in 'Dual Perspectives.'
Jumping into this the very first chapter literally broke my heart, her husband's treatment of her was despicable, making her feel worthless and guilty for being overly emotional over losing loved ones a few years back. Resulting in her husband wanting a divorce.
Broken and shattered beyond measure Kennedy reaches out to her sister and husband, needing a place to heal, they welcomed her with open arms and open hearts even going that extra mile and setting her up in a house they will be flipping in the future in a small town where everyone is as nosy as the next one which made for an entertaining read.
Enter Jax, he's the towns grumpy black sheep, the towns local plumber, whose bite is worse than his bark, he's gruff and grumpy but holding in a world of hurt like our heroine. He doesn't leave a great first impression on her as a trespasser but when he realises that he knew her in the past wrought out all the feels.
One thing with this author is that she always delivers us a swoon worthy read, throw in her wacky sense of humour and this book will get you over those isolation blues. A slow burn which quickly got its hooks into me. The type of book I exactly needed during this trying time. Highly recommend!!
* Teaser used is off the authors facebook page *
Rating: really liked it
3.5 STARS What can I say, I love Brittainy Cherry and her books and I will always read her stuff. With that said, I was a little disappointed with this one even though it was cute all around. Don’t get me wrong, the formula is there, good writing and super likable characters. But still, some things were disappointing and affected my rating. For one, it had lots of editing issues, including spelling mistakes and missing words. It was also very inconsistent through out with inconsistent ages, dates and timelines, mentions of Pinterest from 15 years ago (Pinterest didn’t launch until 2010), characters ages constantly changing, events happening in different years in different chapters, and so on. This is so unlike B. Cherry books that I’m extremely surprised. It seems as though this book was rushed to meet a deadline and the quality just suffered. What’s sad is that nobody seems to care about quality anymore. As for the story, like I said, it was cute and I enjoyed it, but it was also missing some of those feels I love in her books, the angst and the epicness was just not there. It took me forever to get through it, which is rare because I usually read her books in one sitting, and I just couldn’t fully connect with the love story, even though the flashbacks were mega cute. It also gave me the sensation that I had read this story before, a lot of the storylines and issues reminded me of Disgrace and the Elements books so it was missing some freshness within the story. I did adore Connor and I definitely want to read his book. I’m totally looking forward to whatever is next for this author, I just love her books. Do I recommend this book? Overall, yes, but if you’ve never read Brittainy Cherry before, then I suggest you start with another one of her books, like the Elements books.
Rating: really liked it
3 stars
There are things I loved about this book and some things I detest.
I have always loved childhood friends plot lines in books and this one was no different. I loved seeing Jax and Kennedy as friends and their quirky side but also sadly the dark sides of their child hood.
I wanted to protect Jax at all costs and what he went through was horrible especially after everything is pieced together and every little secret from his childhood is revealed.
Kennedy might have had a beautiful childhood but she had her own dark past that made me feel horrible for her.
Yet this is where the "issue" arrises for me. I did not think that Kennedy had enough time. What she went through is horrible and I did not think that she healed enough. In the end she was "better" but I did not think that we focused enough on her healing process.
There was a lot going on at the same time:
Jax, Connor (who is probably my favourite character in this book), as well as connor's mom, the friendly old lady from next door and Jax's brother.
All this people had some sad part in this entire story and I felt like maybe there was one too many sad or tragic things going on at the same time.
I just think that this caused the focus of the healing of especially Kennedy to get pushed into the back ground.
I did however think that Kennedy and Jax had really good chemistry. The development of their relationship wasn't rushed and happened at the perfect time especially with how much they knew from each other as children.
They had a very deep connection, not only because of their past but because of how they were able to help each other and found things that they both treasured.
I also really appreciated that Connor was there, like a funny little brother as well as the person that made me laugh during the dark scenes.
I was sadly a bit unsatisfied with the ending in correlation to the plot twist. I juts think that we needed wayyyyy more plot after the big reveal because it was out and then boom: epilogue
So overall I loved the characters, the chemistry and the main plot line but again it was just too short and we did not have enough time with the ,air characters.
Rating: really liked it
*****FOUR STARS*****{ARC Generously Provided by Author}
Before I could walk into her house, she was on her porch wrapping me in her arms, and for the first time in my life, I realized home wasn’t a place, it was a person. When I was lost that night, I ran away to Kennedy, and lucky for me, she let me in.
”SOUTHERN STORMS” is a
friends-to-lovers/second-chance romance between two people who were once childhood best-friends who have suffered unimagineable loss that has dimmed their inner light. Kennedy and Jax both live with grief and guilt that has nearly destroyed them and somehow fate brings these two together just when they need each other the most.
There was so much that I enjoyed about this story. It’s kind of hard not to like anything that Brittainy Cherry writes, but there was something missing and I can’t really place it. Some issues were resolved without being provided the details. I would have loved for Jax to get the closure he needed directly from his father.
Overall, Brittainy C Cherry delivered another beautiful story of love and emotional angst that her fans are sure to enjoy.
Hero:
4.5Heroine:
4Plot:
4Angst:
4Steam:
4Chemistry Between Hero & Heroine:
4”SOUTHERN STORMS” is currently available.
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bJYlYJ
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/SouthernStorms
Rating: really liked it
TW for loss of a child, loss of a loved one, and child abuse.
This was just an okay read for me. I do think it focused much more on the trauma and the personal growth of the two main characters and that really overshadowed their romance. I did feel for the main characters and what they were both going through. I wanted them to overcome their trauma and learn how to be whole again, but the romance was just lacking. They were only friends until about 60% of the way through before anything actually romantic even happened. I didn't find myself dying to finish this and just listened along to the audiobook until the end. I also think there was some gaps in the story that we were just never told, particularly with Jax's past. I had no idea what he was so traumatized by, but suddenly the heroine knows and two characters have a conversation about it as if the reader was already aware of what happened. I actually thought I had missed a chapter or something until reading reviews that said the author just left that out. Overall, nothing made me absolutely love this romance or feel the angst between them. This wasn't a bad book, it was just average and a pretty generic romance with nothing special to it.
Rating: really liked it
“If you need to run away, run away to me.” I truly feel like whatever Brittainy C Cherry writes, works it’s way into my heart. How does she do this??? Every book, every sentence, every freakin word is woven into a lyrical balm just for your heart. There are moments when it breaks you just a little, but the other moments? Those are the ones you have to have to watch because it heals you and it makes you stronger.
Kennedy has been through a tragedy that no one ever wants to go through. It’s the type of tragedy that leaves you with big open scars and you have no intention of trying to heal at the moment because deep down you want to remember the pain. Feeling the loss lets you know that you’re still here, your heart is still beating even though it’s shattered at the moment, those shard pieces is still worth something.
“You’re everything I wanted and everything I never knew I could have.” Knocking on her sister’s door and asking for help was the first step for Kennedy in trying to move on and now that she’s in a town, she’s trying to let the healing process begin. After meeting the not so nice town’s grump, Kennedy is about to learn that things are not what they seem and that there are more that meets the eye when it comes Jaxon Kilter.
I have to say that I was not expecting this book to be so emotional. I knew that we were going to have some of those moments of course because it’s a Brittainy Cherry book and I expect nothing else but holy crap some chapters felt like a gut punch!! I felt for these characters deeply and the pain and loss that they had to go through was inhumane. There were dark days with heavy thunderstorms but the sun also came out and I loved how we got to experience the not only the sadness with these characters, but the joy and forgiveness.
This is going down as one of my favorite reads of the year and if you’re like me and you love this author’s writing, this friends to lovers story, is not to be missed.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 Stars “Bark at them, Kennedy. Bark.”
I’m probably the odd one out but I wasn’t completely hooked.
I’m not even in a particularly moody mood right now but I still caught myself putting the book aside more times than I thought I would and having to force myself to pick it up again later.
I think it had a lot to do with their romance
lacking some sparks. The magic was missing because the friendship in this was strong, like EXTREMELY strong, and I loved that. As kids, they were THE CUTEST, simply adorable!
[— solivagant —
one who wanders alone ]
“We can be solivagants together,” I said.
“Uh, that cancels out the whole point of solivagant.”
“Shh, Jax. Just let this happen.”
He smiled and muttered, “Okay.”
As adults, they weren’t any less sweet together but
while I felt the sweetness I didn’t feel much of the passion. Maybe it was Brittainy C. Cherry’s intention, to make this story more sweet and mushy but
I honestly didn’t see them as anything other than friends.
Now adult Jax and Kennedy as individuals were… fine. Both were likable characters but not to the point where I would say
"Wow I loved them so much because of this and this reason." Unfortunately, there was only a
sense of disconnect between me and both main characters.
Simply said, I think I just didn't "get" them. For Jax, I had trouble connecting his sweet and caring side with the town's asshole facade. For Kennedy, it probably had something to do with her past (the husband) that hasn’t properly been dealt with. I kept waiting for it but it never came. 🤔
For the sake of making this first part a non-spoilery section, I will elaborate on my issues further down below**.
To end this on a better note though, these were my favorite things in the book — Definitely Connor! Simply hilarious and my favorite character from the story!
— Jax and Kennedy’s younger selves
— Not only J&K’s friendship but the friendships in general were pretty amazing here. I particularly loved Jax and Connor’s and Jax and Joy’s friendship.
— I love how Brittainy C. Cherry is able to bring out all these different emotions in a reader. The scenes go from sorrow to cuteness to grief to humor to anger and back again to sorrow etc.. It brings a good balance and doesn’t make the main character’s tragedies too crushingly overwhelming.
— Joy
“I go where the love is. This place is filled with my loved ones’ heartbeats. When love goes somewhere else, I’ll be sure to follow.”
Let it be noted that this was an EXTREMELY hard review to write. Brittainy C. Cherry's writing is just so good that me rounding down instead of up is extremely confusing, especially if there weren't any big, fundamental issues to point out.
**ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!**
Spoiler section(view spoiler)
[
*
*
*
Kennedy’s story with her husband. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t need to read about a mourning/pining wife, whose husband was an asshole anyway, but no word about him? The verbally abusive husband? No working through the aftermath of what his words did to her? Because it was never brought up again. I mean there had to be scars left! She made peace with her divorce so fast that it made me question why she even stayed in the first place. Did she even love him? Like at all? I kept waiting for her to start dealing with it, or at least tell Jax about it but her heartbreak seemed to stem from her guilt about the accident alone, and ONLY that.
Judging from the beginning of the story you’d think that the husband left a huge dent in her life but apparently not. It made her character a bit "inauthentic" or rather incomplete in my eyes. He was such a small blip in this whole thing, I totally forgot that, except for the epilogue, she was still legally married to him throughout the whole story.
Jax. This is probably a me-not-you thing.
So he was actually an extremely good guy: sweet, vulnerable, and caring but was hiding behind the facade of the town’s asshole. Because uhm why exactly? Was it a defense mechanism because everyone kinda knew about his past? Or was it because everyone hated his father? Was it “just” because he wasn’t a people person? Or was it because the majority of the people in town were awful and super noisy? The answer is probably yes to all of this but I can’t describe it. SOMETHING didn’t fit for me. I had trouble connecting the two sides of him.
*
*
*
(hide spoiler)]
Rating: really liked it
4.5 Stars!
(ARC provided by author/ Social Butterfly PR)
Kennedy is a 28 yr. old woman whose felt broken for a while since tragedy touched her life. She’s spent the last five years in a loveless marriage and hasn’t felt like herself in a really long time. Needing to be close to family she heads to the small town of Havenbarrow, Kentucky to be closer to her sister. She could use a safe place to rediscover herself and have a fresh start. Then she crosses paths with the black sheep of Havenbarrow. He’s drop dead gorgeous, but full of attitude. Still she can’t help feeling drawn to this sexy, brooding, rude stranger that seems familiar in some way.
Jax has the reputation of being the emotionally unavailable town jerk. At this point he just rolls with it. He wasn’t a people person, and preferred to be left alone anyway. He’d made many mistakes that had altered his life, and had so many regrets that had changed him and created the man he was today.
He likes his personal space, and then it’s invaded by a breathtakingly beautiful woman who knows just how to get under his skin. Kennedy shows up in his hometown and seems to be everywhere he turns. They have more in common than they realize, and both have their silent struggles from the past that haunt them. Can they help one another through the storms raging inside to find the light they so desperately need.
Southern Storms by Brittainy Cherry is book one in her new Compass Series of stand-alone novels. It’s an emotional, friends to lovers romance about second chances and destiny that’s full of angst and the most beautiful love. I really enjoyed this story, and love Brittainy’s words! Her books always touch the heart and give you all the feels!
***NOW AVAILABLE***
https://amzn.to/2yuEfU3
Rating: really liked it
*** 4 Sun and Moon STARS*** “I love you, Kennedy. I love you in a way that’s bigger than love. I love your sun rays and your moon shadows, and I am going to keep loving you and your broken pieces until you feel my love so strongly you forget your heart has any damaged cracks. Then, I’m going to love you more.”
Ustedes saben que no me puedo resistir a
Brittainy C. Cherry ella es un must para mí, me gusta mucho su manera de escribir ya su narrativa es muy bonita y sentimental y aunque no soy muy dada al drama por ella me lo aviento.
Y no sería un libro de ella si no hay drama y este libro OBVIAMENTE lo tiene, los dos protagonistas han pasado por situaciones muy duras y tristes.
Kennedy perdió a su hija y sus padres en un accidente automovilístico donde ella iba conduciendo, ahora ella sufre ataques de pánico y ansiedad, su esposo no la entiende y en lugar de ayudarla la hunde más en el problema y termina dejándola.
Ella va con su hermana para pedirle ayuda y va a dar un pueblo sureño cerca de su ciudad natal con habitantes con exceso de amabilidad e invasivos.
En ese pueblo también se encuentra Jax un hombre osco y medio grumpy que sus únicos amigos son un chico de 17 años y una anciana de 90 años.
Curiosamente esta es un historia Friends to Lovers, porque Kennedy y Jax eran mejores amigos de niños pasaron juntos dos campamentos de verano y 3 años enviándose cartas hasta que dejaron de llegar. Hay algunos capítulos de cuando eran niños y son súper bonitos
y me recordó un poco a Maggie May y Brooks de The Silent Waters de niños. Eran demasiado cutes. Ya de adultos poco a poco vuelven con su amistad ya no son los mismos porque las circunstancias y eventos trágicos los han cambiado pero siguen teniendo la misma esencia, ella burbujeante y llena de luz como el sol y el serio, tranquilo como la luna que sólo brilla con la luz del sol. AAAG que cursi soy perdonenAparte de Jax que era un amor, con un alma sensible y llena de amabilidad, aunque por fuera sea todo bordes espinoso, otro de mis personajes favoritos es
Connor y ese niño como me hizo reír, le dio ese toque divertido a la historia y se da a querer.Sí me gustó mucho el libro aunque no creo que sea de los mejores de la autora, siento que si le faltó un poco de profundidad y más desarrollo en la parte romántica y al final el exceso de drama fue too much.
Pero igual lo disfruté mucho y nunca voy a decir no a un libro de Brittainy C. Cherry y a esperar por los demás libros de esta serie y que sean mucho mejores, que les quiero dar mis 5 estrellas.
Rating: really liked it
Ms.Cherry never disappoints. ❤❤❤
*ARC provided by Social Butterfly PR. 🤗
Rating: really liked it
Kennedy & Jax.Both very sad and broken with a lot of heartbreaking events in their past.
They knew each other as kids and now they live in the same town again.
Kennedy just left her idiot husband after some very hard times and Jax has been in town all his life. He's the town's bad sheep. The grumpy plumber.
But as soon as he sees Kennedy again - his grumpiness disappears and his heart starts working again.
Same with Kennedy.
Now those two only have to heal enough to be able to fight for their forever happily ever after ...
Another beautiful Brittainy book!
I loved it.Heartbreaking. Funny. Adorable. Sweet.
Small town. Crazy people. Hilarious.
Romance. Grief. Beauty. Hope.
A perfect romance. There's nothing much more I could say about it.
I loved reading it. I kinda got a few vibes from previous Brittainy books, but it was a really adorable romance. Almost a second-chance romance I would say, but they weren't old enough and together long enough back then to have a real relationship. But it's definitely a second-chance-BFF romance.
READ IT!I also wouldn't mind reading Connor's story one day - once he's old enough and a billionaire! ☺
SOUTHERN STORMS was another beautiful Brittainy Cherry love story. Heartbreaking. Funny. Romantic. Adorable. Small-Townish.
Run to your nearest amazon for your own Jax - this one is MINE! ☺
💜
💜
